Camping Kids

    This weekend Elijah and Lydia got a taste of church camp.  It wasn't a complete week like some of their friends did this summer, but a short two-nighter at LoneStar Lutheran Church Camp that our church put together for the elementary kids.   They were in need of chaperones so Kenny went as well.  I'm not sure if that counts for embarking on kid independence but it was a start for them to see what goes on while at camp.
    I was a bit jealous of them.  Camp is really my thing.  But they needed men for the trip and someone had to watch Lanie, so home I stayed home.  I also visited with my friend Karen from Florida who was passing through Texas and who oddly enough, I met as a camp counselor in Illinois about 17 years ago.  We talked so much about camp, I felt like I really was with the kids experiencing archery and canoeing and campfires.  And because technology is so great, I got texting updates from both Kenny and my friend, Tomika who was also on the trip with the kids.  She alerted me that Lydia  cried at night (which I was afraid of).  I'm not sure what happened to my girl.  She's always been easy-going at bedtime and had several sleepovers,  but for the past two months she's experiencing some anxiety from who knows where and she wants us there with her.  We tried going out a few nights when we were out of town and had free babysitting and she struggled every time.  So, taking this trip was a huge risk.  With Kenny there to sneak into the girls' bunk (oh the jokes that must have brought), she made it through but I'm willing to bet without his presence, I may have gotten a phone call to come pick her up in La Grange, Texas at midnight. 
     Despite the first night of tears and a couple the the rest of the weekend was without incident.  They were so jam-packed with activity that the kids and the chaperones were completely worn out when they got back on Sunday.  I got the text that they were on their way early in the morning and in the middle of the sermon, two tired and cranky kids, and one bearded husband stumble into our aisle. 
     What makes me laugh is how LONG the trip seemed to those chaperones.  Ask any of them and they'll tell you that the day never ended.  Tomika told me that when the last song was sung at the campfire, she mentally checked it off her list and praised the end of the evening. Church Camp is not for everyone.  And since I've been through all my camp photos this weekend while on my memory trip with Karen, camping is not glamorous.  It's gritty, and dirty, and challenging.  At the same time there's nothing more unique than that last campfire with kids and counselors singing praises in a wooded field while sitting on logs someone structured to face a cross.  Just can't beat it.  I only hope my kids are those gritty campers who also love sitting on logs, crackling fires, and singing praises.

Apparently, grasshoppers were aplenty

The Girls

The Boys

       

Canoeing was not Elijah's thing

The archer

Bible Study time